Former killer cop, officer Cordell is resurrected to take care of some
unfinished business and exact revenge on those who have disgraced a
policewoman shot in the line of duty.
Despite being made in 1993 Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence reeks of the 80s far more than
Cordells rotten flesh, basically it's part slasher flick, part cop
shoot 'em up. There's stunt doubles, car chases and cops on the edge.
To its credit Larry Cohen's Maniac Cop 3 story touches on some topical
issues, problems with gun crime, the TV/press manipulation and corrupt
officials.
With a hint of the Bride of Frankenstein and a more blatant
supernatural overtone Robert Z'Dar is reduced to a zombie with a bigger
chin than Bruce Campbell as wronged cop Matt
Cordell. It feels like Z'Dar has less to do this time around and through
no fault of his own his character is a shade of grey with his
motivations as murky as cities officials.
The casting is above par for this kind of flick. Robert Davi is on form
as usual, returning as Det. Sean McKinney and pretty much owns each
scene with a Dirty Harry grimace. Top character actors Robert Forster
and Paul Gleason have welcomed bit parts with Ted Raimi putting in
cameo.
Where as part one shocked because of its daylight surprise setting, two
because of its dark tone, grit and seediness part three is only notable
for being the darkest looking installment lacking it's own identity
feeling like an episode of the Equaliser starring The Terminator in
places. However, where the aforementioned parts were low budget with a
big budget results, edgy and delivered shocks, three falls short
feeling rushed and underdeveloped retreading the antagonists past and
redemption. Nevertheless, to director William Lustig's credit and
writer Cohen 3 manages to mix a voodoo element and the gritty police
backdrop successfully unlike for example Halloween 6 which followed two
years later.
Overall, while not as entertaining nor as well executed as its
predecessor it's worth seeing if only for the stunt-work, Caitlin Dulany and Davi's
performances and also to hear Joel Goldsmith's overlooked score.
